The Buzz – Reviews – 2017

Dangerous Magic

The Great Gregoire – Professional Astonisher—Cinematheque

What a magical year, and by that, I mean that there’s a huge representation of magic shows at the Fringe this year.

As far as competencies go, the great Gregoire gives a good presentation. He’s a tad shy on humour but very good at audience engagement. He does the slights-of-hand expertly and he executes the card tricks very well. Being a recruited participant, I have no idea how he does it.

One of his major feats failed today due to equipment deficiencies, which is too bad. I’m certain I figured this one out and I very much looked forward to the climax. I’m sure they’ll have it resolved for next show.

The finale, which Gregoire develops through the show, still befuddles me. I sat right in front of this setup the entire time and I was sure I would see the secret.

Whether you’re like me where you look for secrets, or if you enjoy seeing the unexplained or impossible come true, you’ll like this well-performed demonstration. Warning:  sit in the front only if you want to get called upon!

Ray Yuen

Almost a Stepmom

Standing Room Only Theatre—Planetarium

A very cute show. Our leading lady flowed between characters seamlessly. Her characters were very well defined and it made transitions that much more smooth. Her accents were very good and her impersonation of a 5 year old made me laugh. A little bit crude and predictable, I found the end very lack luster. She had fleshed out the rest of the play so well I was left feeling slightly unsatisfied. I wanted more insight into the main character and what they were feeling at the end. A cute play but not one I would run out and go see again.

Kaitlyn Kriss

The Bathtub Girls

kairos—Red River College

The choreography and the movements fill the scene well but it’s the chilling tragedy that owns this show. Stepping into the theatre, I knew nothing about the plot—and that’s the best way to watch it. If you can resist, don’t read the Fringe programme write-up before attending. Sadly, the description gives away too much of the denouement. Either way, make sure you see it. The volume of the recorded voices can be a bit low—hopefully, they fix that or try to sit facing the actors. This will be a popular show so come early!

Ray Yuen

Patrick Hercamp & Jon Bennett in New Show, BUTT different

Patrick Hercamp—Pantages Studio

Well these boys have done the unthinkable. They have put Larry David and Seinfeld to shame and made a show literally about nothing. We are talking no script, loose canon ideas, and nothing but charm and wit to sell their cockamamie ideas. The program is accurate, you don’t know what your getting but that’s part of why it’s so fun! The audience gets to become almost a third cast member. The show was us sitting down and all of us figuring out what we wanted. Many will not like this show. Your are literally paying $10 for a non show. However it became exactly what I wanted: a few laughs with two cool dudes creating something new and original. That is so Fringe to me and that’s what makes it worth it.

Kaitlyn Kriss

Inertia

Happy Accidents—Rachel Browne Theatre

“To be or not to be…” It’s been done before—yes indeed, it has, but never this poorly. The troupe shamelessly asked for some Jenny’s (which they might still get) but more than 3.5 stars from other review sites might be a stretch.

This is supposed to be a juxtaposition between actor conflict and development of the play-within-the-play. The multiple fractures between the two worlds makes it seem like swimming across the Avon between jumps.

I had very high hopes based on the start, a semi-spooky, comical address to the theatre ghosts. The Ghostbusters theme busted that ambiance immediately. I slid downhill from there. The political and social statements end up being potshots without any substance or backing. While I agree with what they say, they need more than just one-liners to affect the audience.

The most impressive display about this show comes in the form of beer cans. That’s really too bad as I’ve enjoyed previous work from these actors immensely.

Ray Yuen

Executing Justice

The Placeholder Show—Son of Warehouse

Bill patts takes a turn telling a dying inmates story. As the first person in 60 years to be executed this character’s got nothing to lose and tells it like it as. Our main subject was highly engaging and his story fascinating. This is helped by Bill Patts charisma as a story teller. The story also includes testimonies and accounts from supporting characters (also played by Patts) which adds more dimension to the story. While the main character was great I found the supporting characters weak and uninteresting, one of which just yelled at he audience for a solid 5 minutes. During those short monologues I was wondering how long before he gets back to the main character. This weakened the main characters final plight and show of insanity. The play was good but was uncomfortable and borderline disturbing at points. A very interesting play that lets you watch a man’s downward spiral to an early death with a full understanding of how he got there.

Kaitlyn Kriss

AFTER THE CAUSE

sisu\rab—The Rachel Browne Theatre

I hoped for more here. I expected intricate dance routines with eclectic music to guide me through a vicarious journey After the Cause. I had some questionable days in my past, some memorable experiences, and some that I can’t remember—all of them were better trips than this.

The dreadful music did nothing to evoke experience; sadly, the offensive rap piece was probably one of the most revealing tunes. A few of the dance segments served as a warning to the experience of your body, rather than you mind, but in the end, I wanted to see more facets. In my mind, I would have mood swings of euphoria to happy music, paranoia to eerie music, relaxation to spa music and a crash crescendo to something powerful. Unfortunately, none of those sides showed and the single dimensional show only lasts 45 minutes, which is still way too long to spend on little development.

Ray Yuen

Sex Ed

Kerry Ipema—Red River College

Kerry Ipema is back with another stellar show. This year she comes with a new story to spin, her own. With a soprano voice worthy of a Broadway stage Kerry takes the audience on a journey through the use of raunchy Disney inspired songs and a whole butt-load of dick jokes and swears (if you don’t know how much that is ask the guys at Sound & Fury). This unabashedly feminist musical was hilarious and touching. Her story is definitely controversial and will offend some conservative viewers but as a left leaning feminist I loved it! Highlight of my day for sure.

Kaitlyn Kriss

The Life Henri

Still Your Friend—Dragon Arts Collective

For a while, we weren’t sure if we were talking about Henri, or Carrie, or Monet—I have very fond memories of Monet from the museum in Paris and it was quite a tease before we moved into the life of Henri Rousseau.  Who? Yeah, that’s what I thought for a while too.

Normally, biographies focus on true heroes and great accomplishments—this one continues to zoom in on deficiencies and short-comings of the protagonist! Through the presentation, I couldn’t grow to like the main character, leaving me to wonder why presenter Bailey chose Rousseau in the first place!

In the end, Bailey’s an accomplished speaker; coupled with some giggles, this is a show well worth seeing.

Warning:  this venue requires 45 steps up several flights of stairs—the strong air conditioning provides a nice reward after your ascent.

Ray Yuen

théâtre d’amour élastique—John Hirsch Mainstage

Wow! I was entranced by the stunning performance of Tymisha Harris as Josephine Baker. The life of Josephine Baker is put on display with some fantastic singing and truly seductive dance numbers. She has the audience hook, line and sinker right from the first song and you get carried along with the stories. Then when she starts performing some of risque dance numbers that Baker was famous for, you can tell you are in for something truly special.

If you want to see it, get your tickets early as the first show Thursday at Noon was sold out.

Murray Hunter